The Conquest
by KingAlanI
Summary: The Animorphs are caught on their first Yeerk Pool raid.
1. The Roundup

Cassie couldn't break the Controller cop's grip as she was being dragged to the Yeerk pool. This was a simple matter of physical strength. She saw no weapons within grabbing reach. Her horse morph wouldn't be able to break the grip either.

Her only chance was for her friends to reach her in time. Rachel, Jake and Marco were far away and on the ground. The cop handed her to the Hork-Bajir guarding the infestation pier. Those got her head into the Yeerk pool just as Tobias came swooping in. Talons tore up Hork-Bajir eyes, but a Yeerk slug had already found its way into her ear.

((Bardan four-seven-nine. Your body is now nothing more than a tool of the Yeerk empire!)) her head's new occupant gloated. She could not even scream, as she could while being dragged here. She instantly lost even that.

The Yeerk righted its new host. "Four morphers came here after my host – an elephant, tiger, gorilla and hawk!" the slug used her to say.

Taxxons and Hork-Bajir continued pouring into the commotion. They landed stunning blows on Jake and Marco. It made sense that their Dracon beams were already on that setting. Those Controllers also wished to recapture the hosts the Animorphs had freed earlier in the battle.

Teams of Hork-Bajir were dragging the tiger and gorilla towards the infestation pier like any other hosts. Visser Three had taught the Animorphs all too well that a Yeerk could control its host's morphing power like any other aspect of the stolen body.

Rachel was their last hope. Jake's tiger was several hundred pounds. Marco's gorilla morph was about four hundred. The elephant was fourteen thousand. Marco had specifically said he'd rather die than be infested. Jake was probably thinking the same thing.

Cassie wished she could put that terrible weight on her best friend's massive shoulders, but Bardan had other ideas. It purposefully strode her away from the carnage, both to avoid being a target and to deliver its host's intel.

"We caught two Andalites!" a human-Controller exulted. Cassie couldn't help but hearing it. Hitting Jake and Marco must've been as horrible as it looked. Bardan decided to force Cassie to watch the show.

Rachel's elephant was seriously wounded. She'd have to demorph and make a break for it. The crowd of escaping hosts had already been very much thinned, so Miss Berenson wouldn't have much cover. Even with her elephant body healthy, it would be too big to get back up the staircase.

"Demorph your new hosts," a Yeerk in a Hork-Bajir ordered.

((Yes, Sub-Visser Ten,)) Bardan told Cassie in a mocking tone.

"Humans? What is the meaning of this?" the Sub-Visser asked once the order was carried out.

"Seerow's Kindness allowed the rise of the Empire. Elfangor's Kindness may yet allow its triumph," Jake's Yeerk gloated. The slug was right. The Andalite prince's last-ditch gamble had apparently failed.

The Hork-Bajir were busy dragging the temporarily freed back to the Pool. When one of them tripped up Rachel, Tom had tried to pull his cousin free, only leading to both of them being captured. A hawk body lay on the cavern floor. ((Noooo!)) Cassie bellowed to the Yeerk in her head.

((Get used to it. A host's screams will never do it any good. Recognize your inferiority in the face of a superior species. The Yeerk Empire is not so foolish as you. You coddle inferior species, tree-hugger. To care about them, to not even eat any of them, denies your status as higher beings.)) _Yeerks of course being higher still, _it implied.

((We are higher beings because some of us don't sink to such primitive levels,)) Cassie answered indignantly, though the Yeerk could read that thought anyway.

((What is the point of having strength if you use it on the weak?)) Bardan pondered.

((This is the point,)) Cassie answered.

((Whatever powers you have, this is a pathetic weakness. The Empire shall beat that out of your kind,)) Bardan insisted. Cassie was just as determined to maintain those thoughts. She knew she could not act on them. She hoped she could find a way to. After all, hope was the one good thing in Pandora's box.

((I can of course tell what you're thinking – yours and Marco's appearance, Rachel and Jake's beliefs. How humans treat healthy members of their own species is indeed a waste,)) Bardan pointed out, though this species had very different ideas about how to put them to use.

Cassie supposed minorities might be amongst the disaffected people attracted to The Sharing.

_Well, killing each other gives us plenty of practice in war_, Rachel might have said. _You won't find Earth people quite the easy marks you imagine_, the friends both thought.

An Andalite body came running. ((I see we have caught the meddling kids from the construction site,)) Visser Three gloated. ((I demand a private audience with these four new subordinates,)) he added. It was abundantly clear that Visser Three was not a being to be ignored. _When Stalin says dance, a wise man dances._

((Such hosts are too good to waste on maintaining cover,)) the Visser pointed out.

"Make their families ours and it will be easier to serve the Empire," Marco's Yeerk suggested.

((Kitnar four-two-zero is no idiot,)) the Visser agreed.

Rachel's face twitched. ((Break your host, Aldor three-one-seven,)) Visser Three ordered.

"This is a particularly challenging one," Aldor pointed out. "But very worthwhile."

Agreement came out of Jake's mouth, now controlled by Hartnam six-two-four.

((The Council of Thirteen will be most pleased to hear of this latest success. They should soon expand the Visser and Sub-Visser ranks to support the success of this invasion. I would suggest all of you and Yeerks key to the capture.)) Knowing the Visser, this was a warning to not fail going forward.

Chapman called their parents about trouble the kids had gotten into at school. Cassie found that accurate in a cruel, twisted way. Marco's mother was dead. Rachel's parents were divorced, and her father was out of town. Where there were two possibilities, Cassie's dad and Jake's mom appeared.

Human-Controllers were in wait to drag all four of them to the Yeerk pool. Part of the cruelty was that once turned into hosts they would generate reasonable explanations or at least a lack of complaints regarding such disappearances.

The Yeerks planned to round up the other halves and Rachel's sisters soon enough. They enslaved people even younger than little Sara.

Judging by Bardan's attitude, the Yeerks would feel no need to maintain the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic. That had been much of Cassie's existence, would help break her as hard as anything, and Bardan knew it. "I can't believe our hosts waste their time with animals that don't even feed these bodies." Maybe the Yeerks would switch them to livestock vets or have them figure out aliens. Failing that, they did have medical training, after all.

The birds and small mammals back at the Atkins barn were left to die or not taken in to begin with. The Yeerks correctly judged that this would create less of a disturbance. They planned to infiltrate The Gardens. Yeerk slugs could survive for a few hours in plain water and this could be used to move them between the big beasts and the pool.

"Minimal sensory input in our natural state, and then the Andalites come along and tease us with the possibilities of the galaxy. To have sight, to move around, to speak – we must have hosts," her father's Yeerk said, explaining the Yeerks' plight. "The Empire offers the best way to obtain these hosts."

"Can't expect them to like it," Cassie pointed out. This she and Bardan agreed on. To Cassie, that made it unconscionable. Bardan of course did not care.

"And the Andalites shouldn't meddle in it," Walter's Yeerk countered.

Who was left on Earth to resist the Yeerks? Cassie didn't want to lose hope, but it seemed the war had ended almost as soon as it had begun.


	2. The Beginning of the End

Now that the Yeerks had co-opted the 'Andalite bandits', besides using the morph-capable hosts, they could safely continue with their plans for slow infiltration.

"We need to consolidate our position before the Andalites arrive," Marco said. So humans would be Yeerk subjects, or end up caught in the crossfire of an Andalite counterattack. Either way, that did not bode well.

The Yeerks had some respect for Andalite ruthlessness. Andalites would be willing to kill humans to keep them from being available to the Yeerks, as they'd done with the Hork-Bajir. While brutal, the Quantum Virus had made sense as an act of war against the Yeerks. Innocent hosts were often victims of the Yeerk war in smaller quantities; did the scale and technology make the morality any different?

Earth had its own history of genocide that seemed somewhat different. All too often, humans attempted to destroy some other group of humans that they hated, usually without even a shred of military necessity to it.

Andalites might want free humans as a bulwark against the Yeerks. They did grudgingly cooperate with some other Yeerk target races. In both cases, humans were dependent on their usefulness to others.

The Yeerks made sure to send their new high-value hosts to the Pool separately, to keep the Animorphs from causing trouble together in the cages. Some of those Yeerks fed early. It was a challenge to secure morph-capable hosts, though the underlings had practice with the Visser. The hosts were bound in material that couldn't be morphed. The victims certainly couldn't morph into anything bigger. If they went smaller, the material would tear at them. Even Cassie, with the most talent for the ability, was helpless. They were bound and gagged for good measure. The Yeerks feared they would do more than scream.

Cassie's mother, Jake's father and Rachel's sisters suspected nothing when traps were sprung for them. Their days as free humans had been numbered ever since that ill-fated raid on the Yeerk Pool. They were led to the Pool by people they thought were their loved ones, but not really, not anymore.

The Yeerk Empire was wasting no time in trying to break them. Cassie hoped she could continue to resist. She was more confident defeating Rachel would be an exercise in futility. The slugs all had their work cut out for them, but Aldor 317 especially. Then again, she might be able to tap into Rachel's rage and twist it towards Yeerk purposes.

Melissa hadn't been dragged to the Pool, but a meeting of the Inner Sharing had made her fate clear all the same. She must've been shuttled to one of the Yeerk ships in orbit. "Iniss four-five-five, may the Kandrona shine and strengthen you," Aldor said. The standard Yeerk greeting was taunting the real Melissa. Hedrick was twitching, most of the Controllers in the room recognizing the signs of host resistance.

"This is punishing my host's parents more than her friend, but as the humans say, kill two birds with one stone, or in this case three," Iniss 455 used Melissa to reply. To speak of killing, Fluffer McKitty and Homer had both been reduced to Taxxon food.

The Yeerks took advantage of how they could make their hosts watch certain things, unable to close their eyes, turn their head, or otherwise avoid the sensory input.

With whole households infested, there was little need to maintain cover at home, and most of the people who would be guests at the Animorphs' houses were now Controllers.

Ironically, there wasn't yet much use for the morphing ability. They traveled by Yeerk craft, and used Dracon beams instead of combat morphs. For similar reasons, Andalites didn't morph much either. They mainly used it for spying. On Earth, the Yeerks were infiltrating most targets via those who were already Controllers. Off Earth, their base forms would have been conspicuous, and the Empire still had use for them here. The Yeerks were using their hosts' connections to infiltrate further.

Essak 558, who had been given Cassie's mother Michelle, wanted to turn The Gardens into an infestation assembly line. If that was possible, it would be more suited to the amusement park section than the zoo section. Maybe the waterpark could conceal a Yeerk pool, or at least some slugs in regular water, infesting those who passed through. Either way, this called for a Pool entrance somewhere in the park. One was created in due order.

Earth animals could provide only a few limited hosts. This was a prime problem with infesting nonsentients, and many other sentient species the Yeerks had conquered. Those races were called Class 2 or 3. Class 1 beings were physically impossible to infest. Class 4 would be perfect if not for their defenses. Class 5 was the ideal. It was clear how important humans were to this war, that much was certain.

The animals would have to be kept in the park for now. Those bodies could be used to train new Yeerks. The Yeerks who had taken the Animorphs and their families had all been in at least a Gedd before.

All of Steve's co-workers at his doctor's office were free humans for now. Being a pediatrician, having the kids' parents around would make it harder to infest his patients and then have them make visits to the Pool. He generally didn't do stuff that called for anesthesia. The Yeerks sensed an opportunity in taking adults who had been knocked out for surgery.

Peter's Yeerk had an act planned for him, start to move on from Eva's death via activities with The Sharing. It had now been over two years since her fateful disappearance. Jake and Rachel started promoting The Sharing at school. This helped support the facade of the organization being a wholesome family affair, especially considering Tom's previous and continuing involvement in that club.

The Council of Thirteen was pleased with Visser Three and his plan to expand the ranks. If they hadn't been happy, the Visser certainly would have passed the pressure along to his subordinates. _The_ Visser soon became inaccurate. Several Sub-Vissers present on Earth were given newly created Visser numbers to make room in the Sub ranks for the Animorphs and associated hosts. There were nearly a thousand Subs now.

Sub-Visser Ten was now Visser Forty-eight and remained in charge of Pool security. Sub-Visser Nineteen continued to manage Yeerk equipment as the 49th Yeerk general. Taylor's Yeerk dropped 'Sub-' from its title.

Tom's Yeerk was one of the other new Sub-Vissers, along with the cop-controller known for catching Cassie, who would continue infiltrating the LAPD. The Yeerks were also making inroads with the county sheriffs. There were Controllers in other departments, but not such an organized effort.

Iniss 226, now Visser Fifty-two, had gotten his host back under control. Hedrick Chapman and wife had known they could only resist for so long. Already, the Animorphs were tiring of futile gestures.

It seemed time for another major move in the battle for Earth. Cassie and Alloran both sensed something in their dreams. Bardan 479 and Esplin 9466 both caught on to the need for operations in the Pacific Ocean.


	3. The Remnant

The morphers sensed an Andalite calling to them from beneath the ocean. This seemed confirmed when a beachcomber saw some wreckage wash up. Apparently not all of the Dome ship had been disintegrated in orbit. It was better to not remind Visser Three of this. The dreams were putting him in an even worse mood than usual.

The Yeerks needed to hide the evidence and _deal with_ any survivors. A squad of human-Controllers from The Sharing was combing the beach for more debris. They found nothing else of significance on the shore, but that was useful information in its own way.

Esplin and Bardan were gaining a better sense of what to look for and where. It was the namesake section of an Andalite dome ship. ((A waste to bother with more plants than they need to feed themselves,)) Bardan said. It had been detached from the main ship for the battle, and it had been too easy to lose track of.

Controller divers would pinpoint the location. As far as human media knew, they were looking for sunken ships or studying the natural environment down there. These were things the Yeerks wouldn't care about, which made the lie darkly ironic to those who knew the truth. The Yeerk Empire had little room for humor. This story was effective in distracting free humans, so it was good enough.

The Animorphs as orcas would be the core of Visser Three's backup squad. If the Andalite survivors realized there was something suspicious about the pod of killer whales, they might assume the whales were directly infested. The Yeerk Empire's morph-capable hosts were on a boat, ready to drop into the water once the divers had a lead. Cloaked ships were ready to destroy the dome once all Andalites inside it had been captured.

The squad prepared to storm the hatch. Visser Three would go in first. His Andalite form might be able to trick the free Andalite. Some subordinates had more-cynical thoughts that they knew better than to tell Esplin about. ((He wants the glory for himself,)) Bardan muttered.

((So even other Yeerks hate him?)) Cassie replied.

((We are the ones who must serve under him,)) Bardan explained.

((Turnabout is fair play,)) Cassie shot back. ((Though what would you know of that?))

((Like how hosts must serve any Yeerk,)) Bardan analogized. ((Esplin can be an inspired tactician in open battle, but has risen even farther than that deserves. I do not know why the Council assigned him to an infiltration project. Likely Visser One and her allies attempting to sabotage him.))

The Andalite inside hit them with blasts from a handheld Shredder set to stun. Either he hadn't been fooled by the Andalite-Controller or precaution had paid off.

All of them were vulnerable while demorphing, and now the Andalite knew about morph-capable humans. They couldn't even quickly morph to Andalite. Visser Three hadn't let his host be acquired. Even though he wanted more Andalite bodies for the Empire, he feared impersonation. Before Alloran had been infested, someone had morphed him and nearly spoiled one of his plans.

Visser Three's forces didn't have many underwater vessels, so only a few Hork-Bajir could follow. Even that amount should have been able to overpower one Andalite, but he managed to shoot just as they were emerging from the hatch, before they could draw. They were stunned – the Andalite likely wanted to shoot to kill, but had no time to change the setting.

He swung his tail. Yet Visser Three had access to Alloran's older body and the experience that came with it. Even striking second, he got a blade to his counterpart's throat. ((Who shall I be killing today?)) the visser bragged.

((Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill,)) the Andalite warrior cadet answered. He must've known it would be foolish to let him out alive, but that Visser Three might do exactly that in order to save himself. The Hork-Bajir had recovered, but stood still. Likewise, the Animorphs did not make a morph. It would cost their leader's life, maybe their own. Maybe more than that. Being a Controller was already worse than death in a way, but the Yeerk Empire could find a way to _build on that_.

((Beast Elfangor's little brother? I shall enjoy killing you too,)) Esplin taunted.

((I die fighting,)) he announced. He didn't have time to perform one of his kind's precious rituals. He did have time to twist his tail, but Esplin was also able to do so with Alloran's.

Even an experienced Andalite doctor couldn't have done much about the spray of blood. Andalites often killed themselves or their comrades to keep from being made Controllers. So this was a variant on a long-running problem for the Empire. Esplin had taken Alloran by surprise in a moment of distraction; now they were both dead.

"I am the ranking officer on site," Hartnam pointed out.

Kitnar had some suggestions. "We need to report the battle immediately to avoid being suspected ourselves. Yet we must continue to search the dome as planned. The Andalite may have been creating a diversion for comrades."

"You have a point. You, Bardan and half the Hork-Bajir, hold the hatch." This would deny Cassie a tour of the wasteful natural wonderland. Before leading the rest of them into the dome, Hartnam made the call to the surface. His team soon came back, finding nothing, and no-one else. The cloaked ships would leave nothing of the dome as soon as their comrades were clear.

No one publically celebrated Esplin's demise. His force of personality would hardly disappear overnight. Maybe his replacement would be a loyal subordinate. His subordinates learned to do things his way, or else, and many of his superiors were allies. Some Yeerks recognized the need to keep such politics from hurting the Empire as a whole.

The Council was sorrowful to learn of his death, but was in no rush to assign blame for it, maybe to protect Esplin's memory. The Visser on Earth's Pool ship was largely inclined to delegate to the security head on the ground. That was suitable for holding their position until the Council's reinforcements arrived.

Whatever effect this change of leadership had, the Yeerk Empire should be able to continue its invasion of Earth. After all, the last remnant of Andalite resistance on this planet had been eliminated.

**A/N**

Reply to guest review of Chapter 2 (I edited that chapter to reflect some of this)

Guest:

Great story with an interesting idea, but you need to show not tell. You need to expand what you telling us by showing this.)

Me:

I figure that's somewhat unavoidable for setup in the beginning. I admit to some issues. I still repeat some canon exposition. I didn't need to go into detail about promotions. I cut some showing even if not adding much telling. An obvious pet name and 'Homer' says something.


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